British Life in India

This anthology of humorous prose and verse presents the lighter side of British life in India during the Raj. It comprises writings culled out of a huge variety of books, journals and newspapers, all written during that time. These are thematically grouped into nine sections, such as 'The Social Setting', 'The Climate', 'Dating and Drinking', and 'Servants'.

The authors of the pieces in this anthology represent a cross-section of the British population resident in India over colonial times, from the famous Kipling to the lesser-known officers of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) and their memsahibs. Some of these people wrote out of boredom, some to keep their minds off the miseries of the hot weather or the monsoons, some to give vent to their frustrations with the state of affairs in a foreign and inhospitable - and yet fascinating - country.

This anthology will delight all readers who wish to savour the zest, the elegance, the condescension and the charm of the delightfully casual outpouring of white men and women going slowly brown in India. Their joys and woes and observations of India will also interest cultural historians and students of the Indo-Anglian literary relationship.